The Michigan Daily - michigandaiiy.com

Friday, November 8, 2013 - 3A

* The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, November 8, 2013 - 3A

NEWS BRIEFS
LANSING, Mich.
Man convicted
of second-degree
murder in Lansing
A Lansing-area man convicted
of second-degree murder in the
stabbing death of a 23-year-old
Michigan State University senior
has been sentenced to 20 to 60
years in prison.
The Lansing State Journal and
MLive.com report that 19-year-
old Connor McCowan learned his
punishment Wednesday morning.
A jury in Ingham County
Circuit Court earlier convicted
McCowan in the attack, which
happened at an off-campus apart-
ment. Authorities say McCowan
went to Andrew Singler's apart-
ment in Meridian Township on
Feb.23 with a plan to kill him.
Authorities say the fight
stemmed from an argument
between Singler and McCowan's
sister.
ESCALON, Calif. -
Thief takes nearly
140,000 pounds
of Calif. walnuts
Authorities in California are
trying to crack the case of a nut
thief who made off with 140,000
pounds of walnuts.
The theft, estimated at nearly
$400,000, occurred Sunday in
the small Central Valley town of
Escalon. Investigators say it was
one of the biggest to hit the boom-
ing industry. Last month, about
12,000 pounds of walnuts worth
$50,000 were stolen from a trailer
parked on Highway 99 north of
Sacramento.
This time several truckloads of
walnuts were taken from the facil-
ity. Authorities say rising prices
- about $2 per pound - is what
appears to be driving the recent
walnut thefts.
No arrests have yet been made.
TORONTO
Bombings in Iraq
leave 30 dead, 19
soldiers killed
A series of attacks in Iraq,
including a double suicide car
bombing targeting a military base,
killed 30 people across the coun-
try Thursday, officials said.
The deadliest attack took place
when the two suicide bombers
drove their explosive-laden cars
into a military base in the town of
Tarmiyah late Thursday, killing at
least 19 soldiers and wounding 41,
authorities said.
Soldiers guarding the base
opened fire on the first car bomber
as he approached, but he still was
able to detonate his explosives
against a gate at the facility, police
said, Two minutes later, the sec-
ond suicide bomber rammed his
car through the gate and exploded
when he reached a crowd of sol-

diers who gathered after the ear-
lier blast, police said.
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan
President of
* Tajikistan wins
fourth election
Tajikistan's president has won
a fourth term in an election that
has been criticized by Western
observers and extends his more
than 20-year rule in the ex-Soviet
Central Asian nation.
The Central Election Commis-
sion said Thursday that Emomali
Rakhmon won 83.6 percent of
the vote, but monitors from the
Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, the top
trans-Atlantic security and rights
group, criticized the previous
day's vote.
They say that state media had
been dominated by coverage of
Rakhmon's campaign and that
registration requirements were
designed to limit competition.
"While quiet and peaceful, this
was an election without a real
choice," Gerdana Comic, Special
Coordinator for the OSCE mis-
sion, said in a news conference in
Dushanbe
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports

MURDER
From Page 1A
will now join the greater Ann
Arbor community in awaiting
the outcome of the judicial pro-
cess in this case."
UMPD Chief Joe Pier-
sante echoed Coleman in his
remarks, adding that he hopes
the latest development will
help bring closure for DeWolf's
family.
"We very much appreci-
ate the diligent and persistent
efforts of the officers in the
Ann Arbor Police Department
who tirelessly continued to

seek justice for our commu-
nity. We are extremely pleased
with this development, which
will help bring closure to this
tragedy for our community and
the DeWolf family. Our thanks
to Chief John Seto for the col-
laborative investigation that
included the involvement of sev-
eral U-M police officers. While
we all should remain vigilant for
our personal safety, thanks to
the efforts of these officers, we
know that our streets are a little
bit safer and that justice will be
served."
The University of Michigan
Health System also released a
statement, saying it will con-
tinue to provide support to stu-

dents and staff as the inquiry
continues.
"The loss of Paul DeWolf was
a terrible shock and tragedy
for our entire Medical School
community, and we are heart-
ened by this development and
thankful for the diligent work
of the U-M police and the Ann
Arbor Police Department," the
statement read. "We trust his
family will draw comfort from
this development, and that clo-
sure will ensue for them, our
Medical School community
and the broader Health System.
We will continue to provide
support to our students, faculty
and staff as the judicial process
unfolds."


VFM
From Page 1A
to aid worldwide problems. After
the event, University Provost
Martha Pollack said the three
priorities for the campaign inter-
sect, meaning that students could
participate in research projects
addressing global issues, and gain
valuable learning experiences
outside the classroom.
"As the chief academic offi-
cer, I couldn't be happier about
the priorities," Pollack said. "I
think those three priorities are
just perfectly aligned with what
we want to be as an educational
institution."
The University's newest
campaign launches against a
backdrop of depressed state
appropriations and rising tuition
rates. In June, the University's
Board of Regents approved a
1.1 and 3.2 percent increase in
tuition for in-state and out-of-
state students respectively - the
lowest 29 years.
"We believe that by judiciously
controlling our costs and tuition
increases, while also committing
university funds for financial aid,
we can join with donors to make
it possible for the best students,
from any socio-economic back-
ground, to afford to get a Michi-
gan education," Regent Andrea
Fischer Newman (R) said in a
statement.
Many institutions across the
country are carrying out simi-
MAY
From Page 1A
four prospects it courts, the Uni-
versity usually achieves one gift
at the sought level.
Lead gifts, at $5 million or
more apiece, are expected to
generate $1 billion of the cam-
paign's total. May said he is cur-
rently involved in about six gift
discussions that include poten-
tial donations that are more than
$5 million each.
As to timing of the gifts, May
said they are announced as they
arrive. However, the Univer-
sity plans to create some dead-
lines to continue the campaign's
momentum, including a halfway
celebration in 2015. May said sig-
nificant amounts of money are
also raised every fall when alum-

lar fundraising drives - but
the University's goal is closer to
many private schools than public
peers. Harvard University is cur-
rently in the midst of the largest
fundraising drive in the history
of higher education - with an
ambitious $6.5 billion goal. The
campaign launched earlier this
year and will conclude in 2018.
LSA Interim Dean Susan Gel-
man wrote in an e-mail that her
priorities for the campaign focus
on financial aid, including schol-
arships dedicated to assisting
students pay for study abroad and
internship experiences, as well as
undergraduate research oppor-
tunities.
"We are committed to the lib-
eral arts, and we have evidence
from the stories of our alumni
that scholarship support makes
a tremendous difference, . not
only for an individual student -
maybe the first in his or her fam-
ily to attend college - but also
for siblings, relatives, and entire
communities who are inspired
and encouraged by seeing dreams
become reality," Gelman wrote.
The University has received
$1.7 billion in gifts in the two
years leading up to the official
kickoff on Friday. ,
In the last few months, dona-
tions from philanthropists
including Stephen Ross, Charles
Munger, Penny Stamps, Helen
Zell and the Rogel and Frankel
families have donated gifts ear-
marked for an array of new facili-
ties, scholarships and programs.
Coleman said these leadership
ni return for football season.
"Frankly, we just want the
money to come in when it will
come in," May said.
May said donor experiences
also assist development officers
in courting donors. He added
that celebrations, like Friday's
kickoff for Victors for Michigan,
are some of the few times the
University can get a large num-
ber of donors to campus for a
special event.
Giving after an event like the
kickoff, "people are doing some-
thing rational, butthey're having
fun," May said.
But when recruiting donors
and determining the campaign's
goal, Chief Financial Officer
Timothy Slottow said it's key
the campaign matches a donor's
capability to give with the Uni-
versity's most significant priori-
ties and needs.

gifts highlight diverse areas of
the University - ranging from
arts and humanities to the Busi-
ness School, student support and
athletics. She added that the flag-
ship donations serve as examples
for smaller benefactors.
Ross, who donated $200 mil-
lion in September to his name-
sake business school and the
Athletic Department, serves as
chair of the campaign.
On Wednesday the University
announced a $50 million dona-
tion from Richard and Susan
Rogel - which will benefit the
Medical School and the Center
for Chinese Studies. Richard
Rogel served as chair of The
Michigan Difference campaign
and will serve as vice chair of the
Victors for Michigan campaign -
spearheading the overall push for
student support.
Three students attended the
press conference to answer
questions about how the cam-
paign will support them. LSA
senior Katherine Man, a non-
resident student and a member
of the Global Scholars program,
said without her financial aid,
she would not have been able to
attend the University.
"This opens the opportunities
for students who are good stu-
dents but don't have the financial
means," Man said.
The Victors for Michigan cam-
paign kick-off will begin Friday
at 5.p.m. with a community fes-
tival in Ingalls Mall, the main
event in Hill Auditorium and an
after-party, ending at 10 p.m.
"And it's not an easy thing to
do," Slottow said.
Though specific projects may
appeal to donors, Slottow. said
the University must also secure
donations for less attractive ini-
tiatives, like endowing capital
maintenance. Capital mainte-
nance is used to maintain and
periodically modernize existing
buildings.
Recently, the University has
begun asking donors for capital
projects to include funds ear-
marked for a facility's future
maintenance. So far, that
plan has raised $30 million
in endowed funds for capital
upkeep.
"With lots of creativity, we're
finding new ways to really get
donors interested in the most
important things that wouldn't
necessarily be obvious to a
donor," Slottow said.

COUNCIL
From Page 1A
the University and find a com-
promise for the situation.
"This resolution constitutes
a resolution among friends,"
Taylor said, but noted that the
billboard is distracting to driv-
ers and "degrading to the com-
munity."
Councilmember Chuck
Warpehoski (D-Ward 5)
expressed discontent with the
use of animation andvideo on the
billboard. At an "absolute mini-
mum," the University should be
following federal highway regu-
lation rules, Warpehoski said.
The Federal Highway Admin-
istration discourages billboards
that have flashing, intermittent
or moving lights.
Many of the councilmembers
expressed discontent with the
failure of the Board of Regents
to speak with the city council
before starting the project. Jim
Kosteva, the University's direc-
tor for community relations,
was present at the meeting but
declined to comment on why the
University did not tell the coun-
cil their plans for the billboard
beforehand.
In a previous statement,
Kosteva said the University
doesn't believe the sign consti-
tutes a safety threat.
"This may simply be a matter
of the city and University dis-
agreeing about the marquee's
use, size and effect," Kosteva
said. "We believe the marquee
can safely inform patrons about
events that they or their fami-
lies might enjoy that wouldn't
receive attention otherwise."
University President Mary
Sue Coleman has previously
addressed the issue, noting that
the University was careful to
position the sign away from resi-
dential areas.
"I believe it's the driver's
responsibility to not be distract-
ed," Coleman said. "My opinion
specifically is irrelevant, but I do
like the idea of informing people
about lesser known sports on
campus, such as women's vol-
leyball."
Councilmember Stephen
Kunselman (D-Ward 3) said the
conflict between the cityand the
University has created too much
conflict: he said the two bod-
ies should be talking instead of
throwing resolutions back and
forth.
An innovative, tech-oriented
Ann Arbor should have a digital
billboard, said Councilmember
Sally Hart Peterson (D-Ward
2). She expressed optimism that,
rather than just advertising,
the billboard could be used as a
public service, to issue AMBER
alerts or messages from city
council

All were in favor of the city
ordinance and motion was
approved.
Council members review DDA
funding
Discussion also continued
on changes to the tax-funding
mechanism for the Ann Arbor
Downtown Development
Authority.
Kunselman spearheaded an
ordinance to amend the way tax
increment financing is captured
the DDA. TIF is a form'of public
financing where future gains in
tax revenue are used to subsi-
dize future projects.
Though he's a consistent critic
of the DDA, Kunselman argued
that the DDA isn't getting
enough funding for affordable
housing projects downtown. He
proposed an amendment where
DDA tax funds would be bud-
geted no less than $200,000 for
affordable housing downtown.
Ann Arbor Mayor John Hief-
tje expressed skepticism at Kun-
selmdn's amendments, arguing
that the DDA rarely declines an
affordable housing request.
But after much deliberation
and many amendments, Kun-
selman succeeded in gaining
approval for two amendments
for the''IF capture ordinance.
Audience members express
concern at treatment of
homeless
Before council members dis-
cussed items on the agenda,
several people spoke during the
public commentary period about
the topic of homelessness in
the city. Councilmembers were
planning to address the issue
indirectly through a resolution
to accept a public parks ordi-
nance, which would change the
process of renting public parks.
Liberty Plaza, a downtown
park located at the' corner of
South Division Street and East
Liberty Street, is a common
gathering place for many mem-
bers of the homeless popula-
tion. On Fridays, the Vineyard
Church of Ann Arbor passes out
food to people at the park.
Speakers expressed concerns
that the homeless population
in Ann Arbor was being treated
poorly, and asked council mem-
bers for welfare or "humanitar-
ian help."
Various councilmembers
addressed these concerns in
their communications after the
commentary period. Council-
member Peterson asked Hieftje
to urge churches to keep their
doors open longer in the winter
for homeless shelter.
Later in the meeting, coun-
cilmembers decided to post-
pone voting on the decision for
the parks resolution to a later
date.


MILLER
From Page 1A
the individuals who may end up
submitting bids. A tour of the
house will be offered to inter-
ested buyers later this month,
and bids are due in the middle
of December.
"The University doesn't
necessarily see a need for the
facility, and so we're making it
available to be purchased and
moved," Kosteva said.
Kosteva said no final deci-
sion has been made concern-
ing what would happen if no
bids are submitted, but other
potential uses for the house
would be explored.
As of now, the house is being
used as an office for construc-
tion workers who are expand-
ing the Institute for Social
Research building.
Ideally, Kosteva said the
Arthur Miller house would be
relocated this summer. The
buyer would be responsible for
covering the cost of relocation.
The University undertook
a similar project 15 years ago,
when the James D. Reader,
Jr. Environmental Education
Center, previously the Burn-
ham House, was relocated

from Wall Street near the Kel-
logg Eye Center to the Washing-
ton Heights entrance to Nichols
Arboretum.
Given ideal conditions, trans-
porting an entire house can
actually be more economical
than tearing down one house
and building another, Kosteva
said.
Although it can be expen-
sive to close streets and adjust
things like street signs, traf-
fic lights and electrical wires,
houses in good condition that
are relatively close to their
next location can sometimes be

moved without serious difficul-
ty, Kosteva said.
"It's not an inexpensive activ-
ity. However, depending upon
how far one has to move it obvi-
ously saves construction cost,"
Kosteva said. "You have to own
a lot and build a new founda-
tion, but you might be able to
dramatically reduce overall cost
of construction."
The University purchased the
house for $919,424 in December
2010 after receiving approval
from the Board of Regents in a
meeting the previous month. .

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